Braddock Road traffic shift

The HOT lanes project is scheduled to open new bridge taking Braddock Road traffic over the Capital Beltway. This shift is scheduled to occur after Thursday morning's rush hour.

We're going to be seeing a lot of developments like this during 2010 and beyond as the project rebuilds and widens all the bridges and overpasses along 14 miles of the western Beltway in Virginia. See an overview of the HOT lanes project.

At 9:30 a.m., if the work goes according to schedule, the Virginia Department of Transportation will shift westbound traffic to the new Braddock Road (Route 620) bridge over the Beltway. The shift will be completed by 3:30 p.m.

In about a week, the eastbound traffic will be shifted overnight to the new bridge. VDOT says drivers should expect delays approaching the interchange as crews make final preparations for the shift.

For the next 14 to 18 months, motorists will have two eastbound lanes over the bridge with a temporary traffic signal from the outer loop (I-495 south) to Braddock Road. Drivers heading west on Braddock will have two through lanes and one merge lane. The temporary traffic signal from I-495 north (inner loop) to Braddock Road will be removed. Traffic will then merge onto Braddock Road west via the merge lane.

Once all traffic is on the new bridge, overnight work begins on demolishing the old bridge. There will be lane closures and detours throughout the spring and summer. Once the demolition is complete, work will begin to rebuild a new eastbound Braddock Road bridge.